How Did Kenneth Hagin Plagiarize E.W. Kenyon?

Originally appeared in Tricia Tillin’s intotruth.org website. We give full credit to her for this scholarly work.

Plagiarism, Kenyon and the Word-of-Faith Movement

A few (8) samples of what is called ‘plagiarism’…

Kenneth Hagin apparently had no conscience about copying word for word
his “revelations” of the Word of Faith from Kenyon’s books, published some time earlier.

Kenyon’s own daughter, Ruth Kenyon Houseworth, easily recognizes her father’s message upon the lips of Faith leaders. She says:

“They’ve (Faith teachers) all copied from my dad. [E. W. Kenyon] They’ve changed it a little bit and added their own touch….but they couldn’t change the wording…These that are coming along now that have been in the ministry for just a few years and claiming that this is something that they are just starting, it makes you laugh a little bit. It’s very difficult for some people to be big enough to give credit to somebody else.” [ E.W. Kenyon, The Father and His Family, Lynnwood WA.: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society, 1964, p.118.]

A man who, on occasion, ministered with Kenyon was one time friend John Kennington, pastor of Emmanuel Temple in Portland, Oregon. He has this to say concerning the plagiarism of Kenyon’s teachings:

“Today Kenyon’s teachings are in the ascendancy. Via the electronic church or in the printed page I readily recognize not only Kenyon’s concepts, but at times , I recognize pure plagiarism, for I can almost tell you book, chapter and page where the material is coming from. Kenyon has become the ‘father’ of the so-called ‘Faith’ movement.”

The original works are the rights of
KENYON’S GOSPEL PUBLISHING SOCIETY.

E. W. Kenyon

Kenneth E. Hagin, Sr.

The twenty-second Psalm gives a

The 22nd Psalm gives a

graphic picture of the crucifixion

graphic picture of the crucifixion

of Jesus. It is more vivid than

of Jesus-more vivid than

that of John, Matthew or Mark

that of John, Matthew or Mark

who witnessed it.

witnessed it.

But He says the strangest words,

He utters the strange words

“But thou are holy.”

“But thou are holy.”

What does that mean?

What does that mean?

He is becoming sin.

He is becoming sin. . . .

Can you hear those parched lips cry,

His parched lips cry,

“I am a worm and no man.”?

“I am a worm and no man.”

He is spiritually dead. The worm.

He is spiritually dead-the worm.

Jesus had died of a ruptured heart.

Jesus died of a ruptured heart.

When that happened, blood from all

When it happened, blood from all

parts of the body poured in through

parts of His body poured through

the rent, into the sack that

the rent into the sack which

holds the heart. Then as the body

holds the heart. As the body

cooled, the red corpuscles

cooled, the red corpuscles

coagulated and rose to the

coagulated and rose to the

top. The white serum settled

top, the white serum settled

to the bottom. When that

to the bottom When that

Roman soldier’s spear pierced the

Roman spear pierced the

sack, water poured out first. Then

sack, water poured out first, then

the coagulated blood oozed out,

the coagulated blood oozed out,

rolled down His side onto the

rolling down his side onto the

ground, and John bore witness of it.

ground. John bore witness of it.

(What happened from the Cross to the

Throne [Seattle: Kenyon’s Gospel

(“Christ our Substitute”, The Word

Publishing Society, 1969, 44-45])

of Faith [March 1975]), pp. 1,4,5,7)

At once you ask,

“What does identification mean?”

What does identification mean?

It means our complete union with

It means our complete union with

Him in His Substitutionary Sacrifice.

Christ.

This gives us the key which

This gives us the key which

unlocks the great teaching of

unlocks the great teachings of

identification.

identification.

Christ became one with us in sin

Christ became one with us in sin

that we might become one with

that we might become one with

Him in righteousness.

Him in righteousness.

He became as we were to the end

He became as we were to the end

that we might become as He is now.

that we might become as He is now.

He died to make us live

He died to make us live.

He became weak to make us strong

He became weak to make us strong.

He suffered shame to give us glory.

He suffered shame to give us glory.

He went to hell

He went to hell

to take us to heaven.

to take us to heaven.

He was condemned to justify us.

He was condemned to justify us.

He was made sick that healing

He was made sick that healing

might be ours.

might be ours.

(Identification: A Romance in

(“The Resurrection! What it Gives Us.”

Redemption [Seattle:Kenyon’s Gospel

The Word Of Faith

Publishing Society, 1968], 6, 7)

[April 1977], p.5)

The picture here is of Christ. . .

Here is a picture of Christ in

in awful combat with the hosts of

awful combat with the hosts of

darkness. It gives us a glimpse

darkness. It gives us a glimpse

of the tremendous battle and victory

of the tremendous victory He won

that Jesus won before He rose from

before He rose from the dead.

the dead. The margin reads:

The margin of King James reads,

“Having put off from Himself the

“He put off from Himself the

principalities and powers.”

principalities and the powers.”

It is evident that

It is quite obvious and evident

the whole demon host, when they

that whole demon hosts, when they

saw Jesus in their power simply

had Jesus within their power

intended to swamp Him, overwhelm

intended to swamp Him, to overwhelm

Him, and they held Him in fearful

Him, and to hold Him in fearful

bondage until the cry came forth

bondage. But the cry came forth

from the throne of God that Jesus

from the throne of God that Jesus

had met the demands of justice; that

had met the demands of Justice, that

the sin problem was settled

the sin problem had been settled,

and man’s redemption was a fact.

that man’s redemption was a fact.

When this cry reached the dark

And when that cry reached the dark

regions, Jesus rose and hurled back

regions, Jesus arose and threw back

the host of darkness, and met Satan

the host of demons and met Satan

in awful combat.

in awful combat.

God has made this investment for

God has made this investment for

the benefit of the Church:

the church.

He has made this deposit on which

He has made this deposit on which

the Church has a right to draw for

the church has a right to draw for

Her every need.

her every need.

Oh, that our eyes were open;

Oh that our eyes would open,

that our souls would dare rise

that our souls would dare to rise

into the realm of the Omnipotence

in the realm of the omnipotent

where the Name would mean to us

where that name would mean to us

all that the Father has invested in it.

all that God the Father intended

it to mean! In one sense,

This is practically an unexplored

this is practically unexplored

tableland in Christian experience.

table land in Christian experience.

(The Wonderful Name Of Jesus [Seattle:

(“The Name Of Jesus: The More Excellent

Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society,

Name”;The Word of Faith

1927], 8, 9, 11)

[April 1976], pp. 4-6)

You must have seen as you have

studied this book that

God’s method of physical

healing is spiritual.

healing is spiritual.

It is not mental as Christian

It is not mental as Christian

Science and Unity and other

Science, Unity and other

metaphysical teachers claim.

metaphysical teachers claim.

Neither is it physical as the

Neither is it physical as the

medical world teaches. When man

medical world teaches. When man

heals, he must either do it through

heals, he must do it either through

the mind. . . or he does it through

the mind or through the physical

the physical body. . . When God

body. When God heals

heals He heals through the spirit.

He heals through the human spirit,

We can understand that

for God is a Spirit.

the greatest forces in life

Life’s greatest forces

are spiritual forces.

are spiritual forces.

Love and hate, fear and faith,

Love and hate, faith and fear,

joy and grief,

joy and peace,

are all of the spirit.

are all of the spirit.

(Jesus the Healer [Seattle:

(“Spirit, Soul, & Body; Part Three:

Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing

God Heals through the Spirit of Man,”

Society, 1940], p. 90)

Word of Faith [December 1977], p.5)

That is, there will be enmity

The fact that there is enmity

between Satan and the woman.

between Satan and the woman is seen

This is proved by woman’s history.

through woman’s history. . . .

She has been bought and sold as

She has been bought and sold as

common chattel. Only where Chris-

common chattel. Only where Chris-

tianity has reached the hearts of

tianity has reached the heart of

a country has woman ever received

the country has woman

any treatment that would lift her

been elevated

above the brute creation.

above the brute creation.

and woman’s seed is Christ.

Woman’s seed is Christ.

Christ was hunted from His babyhood

Christ was hunted from His babyhood

by Satan’s seed until finally they

by Satan’s seed until finally He

nailed him to the cross; and from

was nailed to the cross. From

the resurrection of Jesus until

the resurrection of Jesus until

this day, the church has been the

this day, the church has been the

subject of the bitterest

subject of the bitterest

persecution and enmity of the

persecution and enmity of the

world. “He shall bruise thy

world. “and it … shall bruise thy

head” – that is, the head of Satan.

head” (the head of Satan).

In all Oriental languages the term

In Oriental languages “bruising

“bruise the head” means breaking

the head” means breaking

the lordship of a ruler.

the lordship of a ruler.

“The heel” is the Church in its

“The heel” is the Church in its

earth walk. The long ages of

earth walk. . . .The long ages of

persecution of the Church by the

persecution of the Church by the

seed of Satan are a

seed of Satan are today merely a

matter of history.

matter of history.

(The Bible in the Light of Our

Redemption [Seattle:Kenyon’s Gospel

(“Incarnation,” Word of Faith

Publishing Society, 1969], p. 58)

[December 1978], p. 4)

…in Gen. 18 God refused to

Here is Genesis, God refused to

destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until He

destroy Sodom and Gomorrah until He

had talked it over with His blood

had talked it over with Abraham,

covenant friend, Abraham. Abraham’s

His blood covenant friend. Abraham’s

prayer . . . is one of the most

prayer is one of the most

illuminating and suggestive prayers

suggestive and illuminating prayers

of the Old Testament … Abraham was

of the Old Testament. Abraham was

taking his in the covenant.

taking his in the covenant.

Abraham had through the Covenant

Abraham had, through the covenant,

received rights and privileges

received rights and privileges

that we little understand.

which we very little understand.

The Covenant that Abraham had just

The covenant Abraham had just

solemnized with Jehovah gave him a

solemnized with Jehovah gave him a

legal standing with God. We

legal standing with God…. we

hear him speak so plainly,

hear him speaking so plainly…

“Shall not the judge of all the

“Shall not the judge of all the

earth do right?” All through the

earth do right?” All through the

Old Covenant we find men who

Old Testament we find men who

understood and took their place

understood and took their place

in the Covenant.

in the covenant

Joshua could open the Jordan.

Joshua could open the Jordan

He could command the.

He could command the

sun, moon and stars to stand still

sun, moon and stars to stand still

in the heavens. Elijah could bring

in the heavens. Elijah could bring

fire out of heaven to consume the

fire out of heaven to consume the

offering as well as the altar.

altar as well as the sacrifice.

David’s mighty men were utterly

David’s mighty men were utterly

shielded from death in their wars.

shielded from death in time of war

They became supermen as long as they

as long as they remembered the

remembered the covenant.

covenant.

(The Two Kinds of Faith [Seattle:

(Plead Your Case [Tulsa: Faith

Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society,

Library, 1979]), pp. 4-9; cf.

1969], pp. 76-84)

pp. 23-32)

Jesus gave us the first

In John 1:4 we get the first

intimation of what this Life would

intimation of what this life will

do for man. “In him was life; and

do for us: “In him was life; and

the life was the light of men.”

the life was the light of men.””

There are four Greek words

There are four different Greek words

translated “life” … in the New

translated “life” in the New

Testament.

Testament. First, there is zoe.

The first one is psuche which means

Then there is psuche. That means

natural, human life. The second is

natural or human life. Bios means

bios which means manner of life….

manner of life.

The third is anastrophe which …

And anastrophe means

means “a confused behavior.”

confused behavior.

It is a strange thing that the Church

It seems strange that the Church

has majored in “manner of life” or

has majored in “manner of life” or

“behavior” rather than Eternal Life

“behavior” rather than eternal life,

which determines in a very large way

which determines in a very large way

the “manner of life.”

the manner of life.

Receiving Eternal Life is the most

Receiving eternal life is the most

miraculous incident or event in life.

miraculous incident in life.

It is called conversion, the

Often we call it conversion or the

New Birth and the New Creator. Some

new birth. Some call

have called it “getting religion.”

it “getting religion,” but that’s

not what it is really.

It is, in reality, God imparting

It is, in reality, God imparting

His very Nature, Substance, and

His very Nature, substance, and

Being to our human spirits.

being to our human spirits.

(Two kinds of Life [Seattle:

(The God Kind of Life [Tulsa:

Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society,

Faith Library,

1971], pp. 2-3)

1981], pp. 1-2, 9)

Man is a spirit being, he has a soul

Man is a spirit who possesses a soul

and he lives . . . in a body.

and lives in a body….

He is in the same class as God.

He is in the same class with God.

We know that God is a spirit

We know that God is a Spirit.

and He became a man took on a

And yet [He] took upon Himself a

man’s body, and when He did it

man’s body….when God took

upon Himself human form,

He was no less God than He was

He was no less God than when He

before He took the physical body…

didn’t have a body.

Man, at death, leaves his physical

Man, at physical death, leaves his

body and is no less man than

body. Yet he is no less man than

he was when he had his … body.

he was when he had his body.

(The Hidden Man [Seattle: Kenyon’s

(Man of Three Dimensions [Tulsa:

Gospel Publishing Society, 1970],

Faith Library, 1973], no page)

p.40; Two Kinds of Faith, p. 3)

This article originally appeared in Tricia Tillin’s intotruth.org website which has been recently shutdown. We give full credit to Tricia Tillin, the original founder of the Banner Ministries for her scholarly work!

Responses

Let me give one example of the harm that the WOF movement has caused.

When I was in grad school at ORU in 1981 (?) against the recommendation of the faculty, Oral insisted on inviting John Osteen (Joel’s father) to speak in chapel. The first time wasn’t too bad. The second time was horrendous.

JO told the story of having walked down a street past an auto showroom. He looked in the window and saw a brand new Cadillac with a $20,000 price sticker on it. JO decided that he would look good driving that vehicle so he claimed it. He went inside and told the salesman “That’s my Cadillac. I claimed it.” The dealer told him “Fine. Give me $20,000 and you can have it.”

“All I have is eleven hundred.”

“Are you crazy? I’m not selling you a twenty thousand dollar vehicle for eleven hundred. Get out of here.”

“All right. But I claimed it and it’s mine. And you can’t sell it.”

“We’ll see.”

JO than continued on. “I came back a week later. Still there. A month later. Still there. Two months. Still there. Finally the dealer called me and said ‘Alright you win. Come in and I will sell you the Cadillac.'”

JO continued. “So I went in.”

“Alright give me the eleven hundred dollars and the car is yours.”

“All I have now is six hundred. Besides it depreciated.”

“UGGGGGHHHHH. . . . Give me the six hundred and get out of here!!!”

Now the faculty was disgusted with this and I would say that practically all of the grad school was as well (not just theology either but business. law, education, medicine, nursing and dentistry as well). At least one professor, Dr. Bob Tuttle, didn’t hesitate to tell him so afterwards. I think Oral was embarrassed as well. I mean hey the man had just confessed to auto theft and was expecting applause for it.

But professors and grad school students tend to be less impressionable than younger undergrads. Consider the following example.

A few days later I was in the grocery store and I saw a student in the produce isle by the name of Al. My roommate called him “Crazy Al” and we often wondered how in the world he ever got in the school as ORU has very high acceptance standards. If it wasn’t for track & field they probably wouldn’t have let me in either.

Anyway Al was standing there eating grapes off of the counter. OUR conversation went as follows:

“Al you gotta pay for those things before you eat ’em!!!.

“No I don’t. I claimed them. They’re already mine.

“What???!!!”

“Sure. Didn’t you listen to John Osteen the other day? I claimed them and they are mine.” And he ate another handful.

“Al, Osteen is a nut. And that is stealing.”

“No ya just gotta have enough faith.” And he ate another handful.

“Al if you eat one more grape I’m going to the front desk and have them throw you out of here!!!! Try me Al !!! I’m not bluffing!!!”